PGMOL admits “significant human error” in offside Liverpool goal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Liverpool fans are complaining. There’s so much salt flying around in the wake of Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 last-gasp win over Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today that you’d be forgiven if you though you were on a tour at a Morton’s factory. Liverpool ended the match with nine men and somehow still almost managed to eke out a draw thanks to a mostly sub-par performance for Spurs and a bunch of heroic defending.

But the real controversy came in the wake of a Liverpool goal that wasn’t — a counterattack strike from Luis Diaz that was called back for offside and upheld by VAR. And honestly, Liverpool fans have a point. Diaz sure looked onside in real time, and the replays never showed the lines, just a still from a weird angle that looked awfully close. The call on the field was upheld and the goal was waved off.

But! The PGMOL issued a statement after the match admitting “significant human error” in the play and acknowledging that Diaz WAS onside and the goal should’ve counted.

Now then. As the managing editor of a prominent Tottenham Hotspur blog that has significant readership and (hopefully) a record of balanced opinions, I should acknowledge that this was a significant mistake and that Tottenham did not deserve to get the win over Liverpool, their first since October of 2017. After all, I would be absolutely apoplectic if this had happened to Spurs.

That’s what I should do. This is what I’m actually going to say:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

My friends, I have been on the other side of this coin SO MANY TIMES. Tottenham have had calls and situations go against them so disastrously over the years, often resulting in literal rule changes after Spurs get screwed in matches, and especially in matches against Liverpool. My magnanimity simply and honestly can’t survive a result like this against a club that has undeservedly beaten Spurs so often that we literally talked about a “curse” leading up to this match, and that has a fanbase infamous for its victim complex and for exhorting conspiracy theories anytime something even remotely bad happens to their club.

Tottenham Hotspur probably shouldn’t have won this match. I don’t care! This is wonderful stuff and actually makes me enjoy it even more. I know this makes me a poor winner. Karma’s a bitch and I know the pendulum will swing the other direction eventually. It’ll happen. That’ll suck.

But buddy, let me tell you, the vibes are off the scale and I feel I’m owed this lovely little moment after everything that I’ve had to endure over the past few years. And as nice as this moment is for me personally, it doesn’t come close to addressing the karmic imbalance from the 2019 Champions League final.

That said, it’s a start.